News from the North American Scene: June 18, 1990

VIOLENCE

Letter-Bomb Epidemic?

A letter bomb addressed to Pat Robertson, founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), has given rise to speculation that recent incidents of violence aimed at well-known Christians are related. CBN security guard Scott Scheepers was injured—though not seriously—when a package bomb exploded in the mail room at the ministry’s Virginia Beach, Virginia, headquarters.

The bomb sent to CBN and a similar mail bomb sent to the Lakewood Church in Houston late in January were both traced to the Fayetteville, North Carolina, area by the local chapter of the U.S. Bureau for Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. There is no known connection between these incidents and the recent arson at Christian musician Sandi Patti’s offices, for which a group calling itself the Equal Religious Coalition claimed responsibility.

THE POOR

Poverty’S Children

For most age groups in the U.S., the poverty rate is in decline. But the number of children under the age of six who live in poverty is growing, according to a study conducted by the National Center for Children in Poverty, a research group affiliated with the Columbia University School of Public Health.

According to a New York Times report on the study, nearly one in four children aged six and under live below the poverty line. This is based on 1987 data, at which time that line was drawn at $11,611 for a family of four. Among the reasons cited in the study for the growing poverty rate among the nation’s young were: increases in the number of single, teenage mothers and young, two-parent families; a lack of jobs for which young parents are qualified; and a shortage of affordable day care that would enable young parents to seek low-paying jobs.

UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST

Gay Church Welcomed

The Minnesota Conference of the United Church of Christ (UCC) has granted full-membership status to a Minneapolis congregation composed mostly of homosexual members. Delegates of the conference’s Eastern Association on April 28 voted 234 to 83 to admit the Spirit of the Lakes Church, making it the second such congregation to be granted membership in the UCC.

Daniel Geslin, one of the ministers at Spirit of the Lakes Church, said the action was in keeping with the UCC’s “open and affirming” stance on social issues. He cited other examples, including UCC predecessor bodies’ support for women’s ordination and for the abolition of slavery.

Arthur Rouner, Jr., senior minister of the Colonial Church in Edina, Minnesota, whose 4,000 members make up about 10 percent of the state’s UCC population, predicted the acceptance of the homosexual congregation might lead his congregation to reconsider its membership in the UCC.

ALCOHOLISM

Troublesome Gene?

Scientists have tentatively identified a gene they believe puts people at risk of becoming alcoholics. A study of the brains of 70 people found the gene was present in a substantial majority of those who struggle with alcoholism, while it was absent from the brains of nonalcoholics.

Because some who have the gene are not alcoholics, while others who do not have the gene are alcoholics, the presence of the gene is thought to be just one of several factors that contribute to alcoholism, which, according to some estimates, affects one in four U.S. families.

PEOPLE AND EVENTS

Briefly Noted

Ended: A nine-month boycott of Clorox products by Christian Leaders for Responsible Television (CLEAR-TV), a national coalition of some 1,600 leaders. Clorox announced steps to ensure more stringent compliance with its standards for television program sponsorship. The coalition’s boycott of Mennen Company products remains in effect.

Reduced: From eight to two-and-a-half years, the prison sentence of former PTL executive Richard Dortch. The judge in the case cited Dortch’s remorse over his wrongdoing.

Elected: As the fourth president of Anderson (Ind.) University, 47-year-old James L. Edwards. His term at the Church of God—affiliated school begins July 1. Edwards succeeds the retired Robert A. Nicholson.

Named: As president of Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, California, Richard E. Felix. Currently president of Friends University in Wichita, Kansas, Felix assumes his new duties August 1.

Died: At the age of 73, novelist Walker Percy, of cancer; on May 11. His novels and nonfiction works explored the search for faith in the modern world.

On April 6 at the age of 77, David C. Cook III, who retired in 1989 after nearly 55 years with the company founded by and named for his grandfather.

Prominent New Testament scholar A. Berkeley Mickelsen, professor emeritus of New Testament interpretation, in St. Paul, Minnesota; on May 3 at age 69. Mickelsen’s Interpreting the Bible, published in 1963, has been a standard seminary text.

Correction: The book publisher Eisenbrauns (April 23, 1990, p. 42) is located in Winona Lake, Indiana, not in West Germany, as reported.

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